


Life of Pi - Choose Your Own Adventure

by amazinglyhorribleegg



Category: No Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-15
Updated: 2020-11-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:36:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 4,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27567604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amazinglyhorribleegg/pseuds/amazinglyhorribleegg
Summary: Choose your next chapter by going to the top of the page and clicking on "chapter index"





	1. Chapter 1

Your name is Pi Patel. You boarded a cargo ship with your family and your zoo animals on a trip from India to Canada, only for the ship to sink a week into the trip. You managed to survive the wreck by being thrown onto a lifeboat along with the wild zoo animals. After days of struggling to survive, you take in your surroundings. You share this boat with a hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, an Orangutan named Orange Juice, and a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker. The zebra died after many brutal days of the hyena eating it alive. This is day four.

Orange Juice is sea sick, that's quite obvious enough. She looks almost human in the way she acts, leaning over the edge of the lifeboat and panting. You talk to her, just like you have been, attempting to calm yourself more than her. It feels like she listens to you.

Tension between the animals has risen to a maximum. Between the yapping of the zebra before its eventual death, the repeated running of the hyena, circle after circle, and the new recruitment of Orange Juice, who joined the boat two days in on a raft of bananas, the animals were losing their cool. It comes to a peak when the hyena starts to feed on the zebra.

Orange Juice whines, slamming her hands against the side of the raft, causing the hyena to growl and fake a leap for her. You scramble away into the furthest corner of the raft, feeling the need to call to Orange Juice, but too afraid of escalating the situation. Orange Juice raises her hands and bares her teeth, the hyena starts to yap and scramble around.

Eventually he leaps.

You close your eyes in horror, a scream dying in your throat, and you only open them once you hear a thud.

Orange Juice knocks the hyena over the head in an amazing show of courage. Her will to live, you realize, is strong, stronger than yours. You know, despite her good attack, that there is no possible way for an Orangutan to win against a hyena. The hyena gets back up, dazed, but tense and ready to pounce once more.

An orangutan can't win against a hyena  _ alone,  _ you realize. There's an oar by your feet, and a knife over to the side. You can reach for either.

_ No, that would never work,  _ you stop yourself before you can make any quick decisions. You've never been in a fight in your life, what makes you think you can survive against a hyena? And what about Richard Parker, the sedated lion underneath the tarp?

Orange Juice looks over to you, and you see pure fear in her eyes.

What will you do?

**Use the oar to defend Orange Juice: Go to Chapter 4**

**Use the knife to defend Orange Juice:** **Go to Chapter 3**

**Don't defend Orange Juice:** **Go to Chapter 2.**


	2. Chapter 2

The hyena leaps, biting Orange Juices neck mercilessly. She cries out, attempting to push the hyena off of her as the two fell into the bottom area of the boat. You pull your knees up to your chest, hands clamping over your ears and eyes shutting tight, but you can still hear the banging. It continues on for what feels like an eternity, you cry as the banging of Orange Juice against the boat slowly stops. Everything grows silent, yet you still don't take your hands off of your ears. You know the hyena is feeding, but you can't bring yourself to face the fact. Until you feel Richard Parker get up from the tarp underneath you.

Your eyes snap open, your entire body going rigid as you feel him slowly raise, his shoulder brushing up against the dent your weight makes in the cloth. The hyena stills, just as stiff as you are. The only motion in seemingly the entire world at that moment was the rocking of the waves. You hold your breath.

Richard Parker pounces so fast you don't see him, instinctively screaming and scrambling to the back of the boat, shaking hands prepared to fling yourself off. The horrible sounds of meat and bone fill the air, and you realize, belatedly, that you're still screaming.

Richard Parker starts to eat, but the shrill sound of your voice causes him to turn and growl at you. His ears pin back, teeth bared, he climbs onto the bench leading up to you.  _ Run, run you fool. Jump off the boat. You'd rather die to the water than be eaten alive by a 200 pound Bengal tiger. You still have a chance at survival. _

You do none of that. Instead, you freeze.

He lunges, huge paws swatting at the air in front of you as he begins his way towards you, but he stops. You still don't move, crazed eyes matching his. He paws at the tarp, uncertain, and then somehow decides that the unsteady surface wasn't worth killing you.

He pulls the carcass of the hyena under the tarp. You stay frozen for the next half an hour, until your muscles shake from the tension. You don't sleep that night.

The next day, you finish putting together your makeshift raft - a few oars tied with rope to life jackets, barely big enough to hold you on. Tigers had territories, and while Richard Parker hasn't decided to claim his just yet, you know it's coming. You slide the raft off of the lifeboat and test its buoyancy - it floats amazingly, and doesn't even begin to sink when you push on it with your hand. You grab as many rations of food and water as you can, and climb onto your new home.

Weeks pass and you learn the basics of survival. Fishing, water purification, ripping the shell off of a turtle - it scares you how easily you get used to it all. Still, a tiny raft wouldn't carry you to survival. Richard Parker allows you into the life raft, but only when it's calm enough. The water has to even out, the sky has to be gray. What happens when you need to get on with a storm raging on? Let Richard Parker kill you? No. You need a plan.

You have to defend yourself.

It's the only possible way of survival, all other options result in certain death. Like a lion in a circus, you have to force Richard Parker to submission. With a whistle around your neck and newfound strength, you climb onto the lifeboat. You have a plan.

What will you do?

**Strike Richard Parker with a rope: Go to Chapter 8**

**Rock the boat to disorient Richard Parker: Go to Chapter 9**


	3. Chapter 3

Wrath burns deep in our veins, for yourself, for Orange Juice, for the unfairness of the situation you're in, and you reach for the knife.

Leaping, you stab the hyena in the shoulder, digging the blade in. He screams, struggling and in a moment of hesitation the blade slips from your fingers. The hyena bites you with an angry passion, digging his teeth into your forearm, attempting to rip flesh. You cry out and stumble backwards, just to watch Orange Juice fight with all her might. With your added attack, she beats the hyena to death, and then some more, before making a show of stomping around the boat and yelling in displeasure.

You struggle back onto the tarp, wincing from the pain of your bleeding arm that begins to stain everything around you. The hyena's dead, and Orange Juice is alive, but now, just as you expected, you have gotten injured.

Richard Parker makes himself known, growling at Orange Juice, and she quiets down. The tiger pulls the fresh carcass into his den, which Orange Juice pays no mind to - she's a vegetarian, after all. Just like you are. You wash out your injury as good as possible with the fresh water you have, but you're afraid to waste too much. You wrap it up in a cloth and start to work on finishing your raft, hoping it would heal on its own.

A week later, you realize how wrong you are.

The raft you made holds your weight well, and you're able to bring quite a bit of supplies onto it. Orange Juice stays on the boat and you feed her rations from the kit that was there. Richard Parker is still occupied with the carcasses, too busy to worry about the Orangutan.

You remove the bandages from your arm, and nearly feel sick at the sight.

Pus clumps up around the wounds, yellow and sticky, and your arm is swollen and painful. It explains why you've been so lethargic the past few days; An infected injury can lead to fever, chills, and even death if left alone for long enough.

Orange Juice keeps touching her neck and crying out. She got hurt in the fight as well, yet another mirror between the two of you. There's no way it's not infected, by how much she's touching it and re-opening the wound. The first aid kit you brought onto the raft is lacking, but you can't risk nearing Richard Parker to look for more supplies at the moment. You can give the fresh gauze to Orange Juice, preventing her from irritating the wound, and wash your hand-made bandages out thoroughly for yourself. It seems silly, giving all your good supplies to an orangutan, but you're certain if she wasn't with you, you would go mad.

You're also certain she'll die if you don't protect her injury from her own prying hands. As long it's open, she'll keep picking at it, her mind too simple to understand more. With much more uncertainty than the last thought, you think you'll be fine without the bandages. All you have to do is keep your arm dry, wash it with some fresh water, and rest for a few days. You have the food to spare.

What will you do?

**Give the good bandages to Orange Juice: Go to Chapter 11**

**Keep the bandages for yourself: Go to Chapter 12**


	4. Chapter 4

In Orange Juices eyes, you don't see yourself, but who you want to be. Strong, resilient, brave. You pull yourself together and grab the oar with both hands, raising it above your head and slamming it down over the hyenas skull, a sickening crack making you wince. Orange Juice leaps and screams, unable to keep still, but the hyena doesn't get up. You pull yourself on the tarp, bringing the oar with you, looking down at what you just did. Your hands shake, but against all odds you've survived.

Orange Juice continues to freak for long enough you start to get annoyed, and before you can attempt to talk her into quieting, Richard Parker does it for you. He gets out from under the tarp, slow, his ears pinned back, and growls at Orange Juice. They stare, his teeth baring and her body ridged, until he looks away. He drags the carcass into the lower part of the boat, and you can barely hear him eat over the sounds of the waves crashing around you.

The rest of the next day you finish a makeshift raft you had started before the war began. Oars tied to life jackets, it floats amazingly when you put it on the water. Your entire weight barely makes it dip a few millimeters, so with the gentle movements you begin to gather what resources you can off of the lifeboat and move them to the raft. On the raft you can stay safe from Richard Parker, even if Orange Juice couldn't join you. On the raft you don't have to fear of waking a slumbering tiger, or accidentally stepping on his tail.

After everything that has happened, this is the first thing that goes to plan. You stay on the raft while Orange Juice spends most of her days sitting on the boat. You feed her rations from the boat's supply, knowing she will refuse to eat meat. Weeks pass and you learn the basics of survival. Fishing, water purification, ripping the shell off of a turtle - it scares you how easily you get used to it all. Still, a tiny raft wouldn't carry you to survival. Richard Parker allows you into the lifeboat, but only when it's calm enough. The water has to even out, the sky has to be gray. What happens when you need to get on with a storm raging on? Let Richard Parker kill you and your only companion? No. Even if he somehow doesn't care for you, Orange Juice will soon irritate him to the point of no return. You need a plan.

You have to defend your territory.

It's the only possible way of survival, all other options result in certain death. Like a lion in a circus, you have to force Richard Parker to submission. With a whistle around your neck and newfound strength, you climb onto the lifeboat. You have a plan.

What will you do?

**Strike Richard Parker with a rope: Go to Chapter 5**

**Rock the boat to disorient Richard Parker: Go to Chapter 6**


	5. Chapter 5

Grabbing a spare rope as you find balance on the tarp, you put the whistle in your mouth and start blowing as hard as possible, mimicking what people would do in the circus. Richard Parker walks out quickly, ears flat against his head in irritation, teeth bared. As he starts to make his way towards you, without stopping the harsh whistles, you start to crack the rope mere inches in front of his face, showing dominance. He falters for a moment, glaring. And then he strikes.

He slaps you with his large paw and you go flying off the boat, nearly letting go of the makeshift whip in the process. Orange Juice cries and starts a fit, but doesn’t climb off the raft. None of this is surprising to you - there was no way you will be able to tame him in one single attempt. You just have to keep your head clear and try to understand his and your boundaries, make sure neither of you get too hurt.

You climb onto your raft and start to climb onto the boat again, but Richard Parker roars and swipes at the air. You hesitate, and then continue to climb on, slower. You blow your whistle and crack the whip, but it only further irritates the tiger on board.

Attempt after attempt you continue the same way - changing tactics would only make Richard Parker confused. Every few days you gently push Orange Juice onto the raft and climb onto the tarp, making a loud and angry show of yourself until Richard Parker either throws you off, or hides in the bottom of the boat. Hiding becomes chosen more often, and you believe you’re making progress. Until Richard Parker decides he has had enough.

He jumps up to swing at you, except instead of batting you off the boat, he bats you to the ground. You flail at first, expecting to be in the water, but then you feel razor sharp teeth bite into your upper arm, blinding white pain following a moment after.

_ This is it, I’m going to die. I’m going to die. I’m going to die. _

Orange Juice screams in defiance and the weight of Richard Parker is taken off of you. You’re shaking and crying, too terrified to open your eyes and see what’s going on around you. Orange Juice continues to cry out, and then falls silent. There’s a wet crunching sound, and then you hear Richard Parker growl and drag something to the bottom of the boat.

When you open your eyes, the first thing you see is blood. So much blood, you and the remains of your clothes are entirely drenched in it, and a trail of blood leading below the tarp.

Orange Juice is nowhere to be found.

Your breathing is laboured, chest rising and falling as you try not to hyperventilate. You try to pull yourself into a sitting position, but you can’t put any weight on your bad arm, and you’re too weak to lift yourself up with one arm.

Your vision starts to swim and you lay back down, wincing and whimpering up at the cloudless blue sky.  _ This is how it ends? Orange Juice sacrificed herself for you, but in the end all she did was simply delay your death. _

You stop attempting to put pressure on the wound, and close your eyes when you get too dizzy, blocking out the sounds of Richard Parker feeding until you fall asleep.

**END**


	6. Chapter 6

Moving Orange Juice onto the raft with gentle pushes, you begin to draw Richard Parker out by banging on the bench between the upper and lower parts of the boat. Once he starts his ascent up, you put your plan into action.

Whistling with as much energy as you can muster, you rock the boat violently, to the point you nearly throw yourself off. Richard Parker winces and bites at you, but you can see the hesitation behind his actions. You continue this until you’re motion sick, and then some more, until he eventually leaps, batting you off the boat.

You prepared for this, and started swimming back to the raft quickly. It wasn’t like you’re going to train a wild tiger in one day - one attempt, even. But repetition was key, and it was obvious Richard Parker wasn’t willing to get you seriously hurt  _ yet. _

When you climb back on the raft Orange Juice is crying. She must have assumed you were seriously hurt - it would bruise, definitely, but it’s a small price to pay for your life.

Every few days you continue the same technique. Lead Orange Juice off the boat, rock and whistle until Richard Parker bats you off, and eventually, after a little over a month, he decides it isn’t worth his time. He comes out more hesitant when you beckon him, he looks at you with less aggressiveness in his eyes, more defensiveness, and one day he decides not to swipe all together. He crawls back into his den to be sick in peace, and you realize you’ve won.

Months pass, every few weeks you do the training again to make sure he hasn’t forgotten his place, but you’ve been surviving great. Feeding three animals is a hardship, and you see the signs of malnourishment in all three of you. When you have too much food it’s never enough, and you all feast and wish for more, and in the bleakest days with barely a fish caught on your fishing rod, you start to fear you’ll have to sacrifice you’re only friend, Orange Juice.

Those thoughts all melt away when you see a boat in the distance one day.

You’re so quick your hands shake and you nearly drop the flare before you can send it off. You whistle and wave and cheer, even Orange Juice starts to jump around in excitement. For the briefest moments you’re afraid the boat won’t see you, but then a man comes into view, waving back at you.

You climb on board, and warn the others about the animals. They pull Orange Juice up with you, and tie your boat to theirs, to bring Richard Parker. They have food, and water, and clothes, and everything you could ever dream of.

You’re saved.

**END**


	7. Chapter 7

If you see this, I can only assume you don't understand how "Choose Your Own Adventure" books are supposed to go. You don't read them one chapter at a time, otherwise you'll come across situations like these: a blank chapter due to planning errors.

I suggest you go back to **chapter one** , and try this again.


	8. Chapter 8

Grabbing a spare rope as you find balance on the tarp, you put the whistle in your mouth and start blowing as hard as possible, mimicking what people would do in the circus. Richard Parker walks out quickly, ears flat against his head in irritation, teeth bared. As he starts to make his way towards you, without stopping the harsh whistles, you start to crack the rope mere inches in front of his face, showing dominance. He falters for a moment, glaring. And then he strikes.

He slaps you with his large paw and you go flying off the boat, nearly letting go of the makeshift whip in the process. This isn’t surprising to you - there was no way you will be able to tame him in one single attempt. You just have to keep your head clear and try to understand his and your boundaries, make sure neither of you get too hurt.

You climb onto your raft and start to climb onto the boat again, but Richard Parker roars and swipes at the air. You hesitate, and then continue to climb on, slower. You blow your whistle and crack the whip, but it only further irritates the tiger on board.

Attempt after attempt you continue the same way - changing tactics would only make Richard Parker confused, and possibly more irritated. You think you start to see a change in him about two months in. He’s quieter, stays below the boat more, growls instead of roars. You think you’re making progress. Until he decides he has had enough.

Richard Parker swings at you, but instead of knocking you off the boat, he knocks you to the ground with a heavy thud, one paw holding you down as you cry out. He sinks his teeth into your arm mercilessly, pulling out a chunk. In gasping breaths you scream out, writhing to get away.

_ This is it, I’m dead. Oh, God, I’m dead. I knew I couldn’t survive with a tiger. _

Black spots appear in your vision as he reaches down for another bite, and darkness takes over all your senses.

**END**


	9. Chapter 9

You begin by drawing out Richard Parker with heavy kicks against the bench, drawing his attention (and irritation) above the boat. As soon as he takes a step on the bench you start rocking the boat violently, blowing into the neon whistle as hard as you can. Richard Parker winces and bites at you, but you can see the hesitation behind his actions. You continue this until you’re motion sick, and then some more, until he eventually leaps, batting you off the boat.

You prepared for this, and started swimming back to the raft quickly. It wasn’t like you’re going to train a wild tiger in one day - one attempt, even. But repetition was key, and it was obvious Richard Parker wasn’t willing to get you seriously hurt  _ yet. _

You climb onto the raft and get your bearings. Richard Parker has gone back below the deck, so you decide to lay down and sip some water infused with anti-seasickness medicine.

Every few days you continue the same technique. Cimb onto the boat, rock and whistle until Richard Parker bats you off, and eventually, after a little over a month, he decides it isn’t worth his time. He comes out more hesitant when you beckon him, he looks at you with less aggressiveness in his eyes, more defensiveness, and one day he decides not to swipe all together. He crawls back into his den to be sick in peace, and you realize you’ve won.

Months pass, every few weeks you do the training again to make sure he hasn’t forgotten his place, but you’ve been surviving great. You still grieve the death of Orange Juice, but the most important detail is that you’re alive.

Alive to see a boat in the distance make its way to you.

You start jumping and yelling, eventually remembering to blow your whistle. You reach down to send off a flair, but before you do you see a man on the boat wave back. They see you. You can’t help but laugh and cry as the boat comes closer, stopping near yours and helping your malnourished body on. You warn them about Richard Parker and, despite your objections, they leave him in the ocean, saying that they’ll “Come back for him.” Despite the obvious lie, they give you food, water, clothes, everything you could ever ask for.

You lost so much, but in the end, you became the dominant one and survived.

**END.**


	10. Chapter 10

If you see this, I can only assume you don't understand how "Choose Your Own Adventure" books are supposed to go. You don't read them one chapter at a time, otherwise you'll come across situations like these: a blank chapter due to planning errors.

I suggest you go back to  **chapter one** , and try this again.


	11. Chapter 11

The bandages go to Orange Juice. You wash and wrap her injury with only a bit of resistance from her. She looks silly, clean white gauze wrapped around her dirty orange fur, but she stops picking at her wound and goes back to finicking with a broken bucket you tossed onto the lifeboat.

You rinse out your bandages as well as possible and wrap them up over your arm. You change your schedule to fit in a nap during the day, to hopefully give your body the energy you need to heal.

You don't heal.

The fever hits ten days later, you can't feel your own temperature but you know you're burning up. Your legs feel like jelly, and you fall over several times before making it onto the lifeboat. Two more days pass, and you can barely lift yourself off the tarp. Orange Juice sits beside you the entire time, obviously worried. What a silly human emotion on an animal. The situation at hand is not so silly, however.

You fall in and out of sleep, tossing and turning and hissing when you lay on your injured arm. You tried to get the second medkit already, but something in Richard Parkers eyes made you scared. He knows you're hurt. Animals are much more perceptive than you may think.

You're running low on food and water, and the trip between the lifeboat and the raft takes nearly all your energy.

Finally, after weeks of fighting, you give up.

Laying down on the tarp, Orange Juice is beside you. That's all you can really take in during your hazy moments of consciousness. She never left your side.

You fall asleep.

**END.**


	12. Chapter 12

After cleaning out the wound sufficiently you wrap the fresh bandages around your arm, cleaning out the old ones and giving them a new purpose around the boat. For a few days you wonder if it was all in vain: your wound is still red and painful, making it hard to do your regular chores, but eventually the swelling begins to die down, just a bit.

Orange Juice, however, isn’t as lucky.

You can tell exactly when she gets a fever. She becomes lethargic, yet never sleeping for more than a few minutes at a time. She whines and looks off longingly into the water, hanging her head over the edge restlessly every hour or so. You can do nothing but watch as her movements become slower and further between. She stops finishing the food you give her so you give her less as to not waste, but it’s always too much.

One day, Richard Parker strikes. You feel it happening before it does, something in the air. Still, you busy yourself with your daily tasks. Pray, catch fish, check on the water supply, the whole deal. Heaviness lies in your heart, a sense of dread, but also grief for what’s going to happen. Orange Juice, your one friend, the animal you’ve come to consider family, barely moves anymore. She rolls over, arms splayed out, looking over to you with sadness in her eyes.

By mid-day she’s dead. Richard Parker recognizes her weakness, and his lack of food, and takes the opportunity before she dies of natural causes. She barely fights it, whining and pushing back as the teeth sink into her torso, and then she goes limp. You can’t pull your eyes away. It’s the circle of life, you know, but why did it have to be her?   
You’re slow with grief for the next few days, letting a few fish go in your foolishness, but Orange Juice feeds Richard Parker for long enough that you have enough food for yourself. Your injuries heal perfectly, and after long, long months you start to train the tiger like how you would see in a circus. A proper hierarchy was necessary for your survival.

It’s only a few months after you train Richard Parker that a boat comes along, a group of about seven people on it. You wave, scream, send off flairs until they come up to you and help you on board. You warn them of the tiger under the tarp, and, despite your protests, they leave him on the boat. You still grieve for Orange Juice, for the zebra, for Richard Parker, but you survived. And that’s an amazing feat.

**END**


End file.
